Chapter 10 3:25am
The clock on her nightstand read 3:15 AM.
Elena had been staring at it for the past hour, watching the minutes tick by with gut wrenching slowness. Sleep refused to come. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt the pull of the nightmare waiting for her to close her eyes, ready to drag her under.
She threw off the covers with more force than necessary, frustrated tears pricking at her eyes. This was insane. She was a doctor. She knew about sleep hygiene, the importance of rest, how the body needed to recover.
Still knowing didn't make it any easier for her to sleep.
She padded quietly to her bedroom door, pressing her ear against it, it was quiet. Pierce was probably asleep on the couch, finally getting some rest after sitting with her all night.
The thought made something in her chest tighten.
Elena opened the door as quietly as possible, planning on getting water from the kitchen without waking him.
Pierce was sitting up on the couch, wide awake, staring at nothing.
They both froze when their eyes met.
"Can't sleep either?" Elena asked, her voice hoarse.
"Something like that." His voice was rough.
She should go back to her room. Instead, she found herself moving toward the living room, perching on the arm of the chair across from him.
"How long have you been up?"
Pierce shrugged, the movement making him wince slightly. "Never really went to sleep."
"Your side is bothering you." She asked concerned.
"It's fine."
"Pierce..."
"I said it's fine, Elena.". He said cutting her off gently.
They sat in silence for a moment, the apartment around them hushed and still. The city outside was quiet too.
"You want some tea or something?" Elena asked, needing something to do with her hands.
"Sure." He said quietly.
She moved to the kitchen, filling the kettle and setting it on the stove. The familiar routine was grounding, gave her something to focus on besides the man watching her from the couch.
When she brought two mugs back to the living room, she found Pierce had shifted, making room on the couch.
Elena hesitated, then sat down on the opposite end, tucking her legs under her.
"So," Pierce said after a long silence. "Is this a regular thing for you? The insomnia."
"Pretty much." Elena wrapped both hands around her mug, letting the warmth seep into her fingers. "I sleep maybe two, three hours a night on a good day."
"And on a bad day?"
"I don't." She said simply.
"That why you were driving around that night?" He asked, expression unreadable. "When I..."
"When you hijacked my car?" Elena finished. "Yeah. Sometimes driving helps. Sometimes it doesn't."
"And that night?"
"Clearly didn't help."
Despite the situation, Pierce's mouth twitched, like an almost smile. "Guess not."
Elena took a sip of her tea. "What about you? Why don't you sleep?"
"Who says I don't?"
"You've been on my couch for almost a days." She pointed out. "I hear you pacing at night. Moving around. You sleep maybe less than I do."
Pierce was quiet for a long moment, his jaw working like he was deciding how much to reveal. "Old habit. You don't sleep well in my line of work. Makes you vulnerable."
"But you're not working right now."
"Doesn't matter." He said, jaw tightening slightly. "Your body doesn't know the difference."
"Do you ever wish you'd done something else?" she asked quietly. "Chosen a different path?"
"Every day." The honesty in his voice surprised her. "But wishing doesn't change anything."
"No. I guess it doesn't."
They fell into silence again, but it was comfortable. The kind of quiet that didn't need to be filled.
"Can I ask you something?" Pierce asked eventually.
Elena's stomach tightened. "Depends on the question."
"Last night..." He started, trying to form the words. "The nightmares. How long have you had them?"
Elena wanted to change the subject, try to deflect. But she was so tired of holding everything in.
"Three years." She said quietly.
Pierce was quiet for a moment, processing that. "That's a long time."
"Yeah." She said, avoiding his gaze. "Everyone says they'll get better. That time heals. But they're wrong."
"What happened three years ago?" The question was gentle, but it still landed like a blow.
Elena was quiet for a long moment. She could feel Pierce watching her, waiting.
"My parents died," she said finally, the words catching in her throat.
"I'm sorry." Pierce said, not knowing what else to say.
"Everyone's sorry." She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "But sorry doesn't bring them back. Sorry doesn't stop the nightmares. Sorry doesn't make it hurt less."
"No. It doesn't." He said simply.
"It was my graduation day," Elena said, the words coming out flat. "I was so excited. They were supposed to meet me after the ceremony."
She stopped, her throat tight.
"They never showed up," she continued quietly. "I waited for an hour. Kept calling. Then Annie found me. Told me there'd been an incident. That I needed to get to the hospital."
Pierce's expression darkened, something shifting in his eyes. "Elena..."
"By the time I got there, they were already gone. Both of them." Her voice cracked despite her trying to keep her voice steady. "One day I'm graduating, thinking about my future, and the next I'm planning a double funeral."
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating.
"Do you have anyone?" Pierce asked, his voice rough. "Besides Annie."
"Not really. After they died, I just... I couldn't be around people. Couldn't pretend I was okay when I wasn't." She wiped at her face. "So I pushed everyone away. Easier that way."
"Lonelier though."
"Yeah." She looked at him then. "But you know about that, don't you?"
Pierce's jaw tightened. He didn't answer.
They sat in silence for a long moment, two broken people holding their own pieces together.
Then Pierce stood abruptly, putting distance between them. The movement was sudden.
"You should get some sleep," he said, his voice cold in a way it hadn't been moments before.
Elena looked up, startled by the shift. "What?"
"It's late." He said, his voice sharper than he wanted. "You have work tomorrow."
"Pierce, what..."
"Goodnight, Elena."
The dismissal was clear.
Elena stood slowly, confusion and hurt in her chest. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No." But he wouldn't look at her. "Just go to bed."
She wanted to push, to demand an explanation for the sudden change. But the wall he'd thrown up between them was clear.
"Fine," she said, her voice sharper than intended. "Goodnight."
She walked back to her room, closing the door harder than necessary. She didn't lock it, though. Some part of her still couldn't bring herself to.
Elena climbed into bed, her mind racing. What had just happened? One moment they'd been talking, actually connecting, and the next he'd shut down completely.
Her clock read 4:25 AM.
She lay there staring at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of Pierce moving around the living room, pacing.
Eventually, exhaustion pulled her under into crazy, nightmare-filled sleep.
Elena woke to sunlight streaming through her window and an apartment that felt too quiet.
She knew before she even opened her bedroom door. Pierce was gone.
The couch was empty, the blanket she'd given him folded neatly on the armrest. Her medical supplies were stacked on the coffee table, organized and clean.
And there, on the kitchen counter, was a note.
Elena picked it up with shaking hands.
Thank you for everything. You saved my life. I'm sorry for the danger I brought to your door. You're going to be okay.
That was it. No explanation. No contact information. No promise to stay in touch.
Just gone.
Elena crumpled the note in her fist, her chest tight with something she didn't want to name.
She should be relieved. Should be happy that the dangerous criminal was out of her life, that she could go back to normal, that the men watching her building would disappear now.
She told herself that over and over.
But as she stood in her empty apartment, surrounded by the ghost of his presence, all she felt was a hollow ache she couldn't explain.